It's 2024

 It has been a long time since I have personally blogged, so I thought lets reinvigorate this thing. 

A bit of a quick catch up of whats been going on since 2019 - My little peeps are now big peeps doing big peep things like working, getting engaged, moving overseas & setting themselves up in their own homes. Forgot to mention they have and are still making their parents extremely proud of everything they do and have become. 

I am still working a day job helping little people. Life is a little more cruisy though with minimal days having to be worked - my main man feels, and I have to agree, it is a great option to work less and play more.

Creatively I have been non stop enjoying the ART journey I have been on. I have been very blessed to be inspired by Kylie Tout over at ScrappingClearly and also be a part of her Creative Team. I am really able to grow and create in a way that works for me & love to share that with others on her Facebook page Scrappingclearly Share & Inspire... if you get a chance pop on over and check it out as it is a great Art hub for people to come together and chat art, share art, learn art or be inspired by art. I have been lucky enough to teach a little art at the LuckyFindings Retreats of the past couple of years and have really enjoyed sharing what I do. It is nice to get together with like-minded peeps who love scrapbooking & mixed media art. If you get a chance or are in the area of Gundagai don't forget to pop in to the Scrappingclearly shop - it will blow your mind - so much good creative energy products stored in one place for you to purchase.

I have created a little a few projects for BeeArty and have been lucky enough to be on the Design Team for the past couple of years. They have a great range of colour powders and vibrant inks as well as some good quality cardstock and Paper based kits with dies and stamps so don't forget to go check them out 

My better half & one true love have been doing a little travelling last year and we had a great adventure checking out the lower half of Australia - maybe I can do a little montage to share next time I log in... 

So this is my little share of art today - I made & taught this page for the LuckyFindings/Scrappingclearly retreat in November 2023 

 

I hope you have a lot of fun stuff planned for your 2024 and until next time remember...

 "The purpose of our lives is to be happy." — Dalai Lama

New Beginnings

It is the first of the month, it is the first day of this year and I am attempting to get myself back on track with updating this glorious blog ... I am aiming for at least once a week -  various day uploads... I just want it to be consistent ... I shall see how I go this year.   First up some general housekeeping - I was blessed to join two Design Teams last year that has generously flowed into 2019.  

Scrap the Girls - an amazingly talented  bunch of creatives who work with a theme each month. We are solely about scrapbooking girls. The challenges that are coming your way this year are amazing and awe inspiring. I am sure you are going to want to join in on the fun - and each month you have a chance to win the challenge from prizes generously donated by Scrapbook suppliers and wholesalers. This months challenge is up on the blog and is titled "Time Traveller" - pop on over and check it out.

Scrapping Clearly  - a fabulous online and bricks & mortar shop. The owner Kylie is a fabulous creative and has gathered some amazing artists to help with your creative inspiration. On the blog you will find the Design Team  posting regularly and I am sure will find something new to try if you have not already done so. Each month there is a new Challenge with the Moodboard. This year there are some amazing moodboards coming your way and they will not disappoint. When you enter you have the opportunity to win a $30 voucher to spend in the Scrapping Clearly store. This is January's moodboard below.

This year is going to be extremely creative I feel. I have lots of Crafting Retreats already booked and I am planning on some lovely little getaways with my husband now that the kiddies are all grown up... this means more space in the car for my craft goodies to come with me in case I feel the need to create. 

I have organised all my photo prompts for Take the Damn Photo - a group page I created to have a little fun taking photos. I will be dropping it back to one prompt a week - life gets too hectic to keep up some days and I want to find the best possible photo for each prompt. This weeks prompt is Sparkle. 

My little/big peeps are growing into such beautiful little adults whilst they study and work - life is good for them both - they have so much to be grateful for. Husband is super lucky as I am letting  him take over the grocery shopping duties - sometimes you just got to let things go - lol... somehow this is not a highlight of his life - but I love him and know he will thank me as I am sure he is saving a bucket load of money not  having me go near the shops. 

I am currently on holidays for a few more weeks yet - school holidays are awesome although I really need to start writing lists so that I get more achieved in my day. My self imposed holiday from F45 gym ends tomorrow - I shall be back at it tomorrow. My growth process is moving along at a comfortable pace for me but it may be time to turn that up a teeny tiny bit.

So the stage is all set now for me to go forth, be fabulous and create up a storm for 2019. I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I will. 

Tracey 

xx

“Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.”

 Pema Chodron

Scrap the Girls September Challenge

I have totally forgot my post for Scrap the Girls --- and it is my birthday month too... obviously I have been celebrating too much, so without further hesitation... here it is.... you get to have a play with this awesome grungy sketch...it's a great sketch to put together a few of your favourite photos and collect all those memories for your album... give it a go and don't forget to load your layouts either on the Scrap the Girls facebook page or head over to Scrap the Girls blog - good luck!!!

...and here is my take  -- PLAY

until next time.... 

"the older one gets, 

the more one feels that the present must be enjoyed;

it is a precious gift, 

comparable to a state of grace."

--Marie Curie

so much news

Super duper delayed post..... as I had a couple of things on ... and as you know I am always late.... but never forgetful.... so here it is .....it's definitely an OMG moment - how bloody lucky am I.

I had a crack at the Scrapping Clearly cybercrop .... and who'd have thunk it ... I had a win.... there were so many great challenges.... and I have enjoeyed the Scrapping Clearly's challenges for a quite a few months... awesome prompts  and great online support..... as well as a great online shop...

so without further ado... this is one of my winning layouts.... This was challenge 1 - a sketch ...

oh did I forget to mention I won Queen of the Crop...which is right up my ally ... as I own so many crowns I was super chuffed to add this to my collection ..... so here are the rest of the layouts that got me over the line....

A big shout out to Kylie and her great team for creating a fun and challenging cybercrop.... If you love creating or are in need of a little inspiration you can join in over at Scrapping Clearly Share & Inspire Group on Facebook and don't forget to shop as Kylie has a great range of products that are available online from her shop...

until next time...

"It's impossible," said pride. "It's risky," said experience. "It's pointless," said reason. "Give it a try," whispered the heart.

Got me some good crafty love news

soooo... I am extremely excited to join the Scrap the Girls design team.

Scrap the Girls  is an awesome creative challenge blog that focuses on creating with pics of all of our beautiful girls.... If you are a crafter and love to create with your photos and have an influx of photos of your special girl this is a great way to gather inspiration from all the amazing creatives who are on the team & at the same time share your finished creation with a chance to win a prize.

Each month a new challenge is loaded up to the blog and there are awesome sponsors to help fuel the energy of your creations ... this months challenge over at The Scrap the Girls blog is an amazing moodboard full of vibrancy and colour... click on the link to go take a look ... below is my take on the moodboard... enjoy and I hope to see you load up your creation this month.

stay wild and sassy

until next time 

her heart is wild, 

but i didn't want to catch it, 

i wanted to run with it, 

to set mine free. 

atticus

a little creating...

So I have been having a great time on holidays ... I know, I know holidays yet again ... and snuck in some crafting time... I stumbled across the challenge over at Scrap the Girls and fell in love with it... I swiped the desk clean and got started on my layout ...I have all these fantastic pics of Em from a photo shoot we did back in 2012 that I still have to create with ... and this was the perfect nudge and perfect challenge for them...

Love her but leave her wild

Scrap the Girls challenge - July 

If  you get the chance sneak on over and check out the challenge, it's worth it... so many different aspects to incorporate into your layout and give you inspiration, especially if the mojo needs a bit of a nudge.... till next time... 

"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people"
Vincent van Gogh

Journal pages galore

I bought a few journals to work  in a few years back and it wasn't until last year I finally dusted one off and cracked it open to have a play whilst away at a scrap retreat. Once the retreat was over the poor journal was left unopened for months. Then in February I decided to do a couple of single pages and then it sat again... until a couple of weeks ago when I was spirited on by  Lisa Oxley and Leanne Jago and their fabulous process videos... it was time to get crackalackin and start creating again... Here are a few pages I have been tinkering with over the past couple of months...

till next time 

tracey 

we rise by lifting others... 

boom.... still on holidays

This consistency thing is working well for me at the minute. I think that mornings are a little better to get things done... and if I don't start in the morning nothing will happen until about 2.30pm then everything from there is downhill until everyone is in bed and I can pretend it is early morning again... which it usually is when I do a regular update.

So a few more challenges have been uploaded today and uploaded and all were for The Scrap Suite...

Wisdom Teeth - no problem 

The Scrap Suite Challenge #1 - using butterflies

Love Ya Guts 

The Scrap Suite challenge #2 - inspired by clothing

Remember  beauty

The Scrap Suite Challenge #3 - using stars & hearts

till next time enjoy your creativity...

tracey

"Don't think about your errors or failures, otherwise you will never do a thing."

Bill Murray

It's holidays again....

I'm having a quiet giggle to myself as my last post was 'holidays are over' and now it seems I am on holidays yet again.... it seems to be the only time I can find time to catch up on the Blog at the moment. So here is a quick catch up on past layouts and challenges over the past couple of months & what I have been up to.

I've entered a few scrappy challenges during February and March and even had a little win which I am very grateful for. If you have never had a crack at challenges please do... I find them a great source of inspiration and they help me out of those dreadful creative ruts.

Hello Sunshine - The Scrap Suite - February challenge #1

What makes you happy - The Scrap Suite - February Challenge #3

Norah Head - ScrappingClearly  February Challenge

Enjoy - ScrappingClearly  March Challenge

Oh and there are lots more but they are for later or this will be a tad bit of an overload.  I've even dusted off my art journal and having a play in there... a share shall be in order of all of that soon.

At the end of February I had a fun getaway to Buderim with a few of the girls who travel to Melbourne each year to craft together... a plan was hatched for the girls from the plane to catch up and create ... hence the Buderim Bitches were born thanks to two crazy sisters Sue & Mandy... it was an awesome creative getaway that the girls strung together & I cannot wait till we can all get together again to fuel each others inspiration.

till next time...


ability is what you're capable of doing.
motivation determines what you do.
attitude determines how well you do it. 
~Lou Holtz

holidays are over

So the holidays are over for this little duck and I am back at work... looking forward to another glorious year helping all those little kidlets navigate life and emotions. My two are all grown up and out in the big world ... Ryan is almost a third year apprentice and Emily has just enrolled in Certificate III in Office Admin... this year will be big.... The husband and I are looking at a little long service leave this year too ... not sure when or where but it is all in our big plan for the year.

We like to write up an action plan every year... what we would like to do or achieve and then tick it off as we go along... so far things are looking bright ... inside the house has been painted, we did a little culling of clutter (with a lot more to go), new cars, new workloads, children happy with their respective partners... exercise program is on pointe...

I was just talking with a friend and it came to me ... my word... a lot of people I know find a word to focus and bring on the new year ... mine is CONSISTENT...

So to continue with my consistent theme ... I still have my arty supplies dusted off and created some layouts for January comps over at The Scrap Suite , Scrap the Boys and Scrap the Girls blogs...

Scrap the Girls -- Shine Bright ...

 they had a prompt of a blue mood board & I have used the quote that was on the board too.

Scrap the Boys - Heartbreaker... 

I loved this little theme of using flowers on a boy layout

The Scrap Suite  - Foxy

  I chose Challenge 1 from the December challenges by Jasmine

Until next time have a fabulous week.

When it comes to art it's important not to hide the madness

~Atticus

challenges galore

There have been so many great challenges lately ... I found 19 that I want to do this month and I really want to do them all ... last weekend away at retreat gave me a great start to get a lot of projects done but I still have a lot to do ... I love setting myself personal challenges also ... and I have only a few weeks left to reach it ... i'm a dreamer.... 

Scrap the Girls November Challenge - the mood board for scrap the girls this month was a lot of shoe pics and a great quote "give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." I finished my challenge layout while away on retreat, it was my first layout to unwind and relax too... very symbolic as I was away with a great group of girlfriends. During renovations a couple of years ago I wore my trusty pluggers to get the outside work done, day in day out, for 6 weeks. We were working in black sand and it was a dirty job...but I conquered everything I had to get done. 

Dirty Feet - Scrap the Girls Challenge

The Scrap Suite - The D-lish October challenges are awesome this month and are due on the 17th of this month. I am still working on one but at retreat I got two done and finished the third off this weekend. There are four challenges in total - hot or cold, sketch, strips & stripes and the last scrap your selfie...

Moments like this 

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #1

Choose 2 or more colors from either side of the color wheel to create your own warm or cool color palette.

Love Life 

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #3

Sketch Challenge

Today open every door

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #4

Scrap your selfie - create a project that features a photo of yourself

... that's all for now... i need to get back to the creative desk and tick off a few more of these amazing challenges.

Your life unfolds in proportion to your courage... 

Danielle LaPorte

Scrapchat Retreat 2017

Last weekend I was blessed to get away with a great group of friends and had some quality time to  create. I worked on layouts for challenges which I will put up during the week when I finally photograph them and upload them to the challenge sites. It has taken me this long to recover from being away and I still have not unpacked all of my gear.... but it is neat and tidy 😉...

The weekend was special for many reasons, we held our own Dinner En Blanc, we had a farewell for our beautiful friend Lisa who is moving interstate and it will be the last retreat at the Warana beach house as they will be doing renovations. I finally got to the photos from the dinner and did a little editing... I really need to take more of the food prep next time... Amanda & I worked seamlessly as a team & the food was fabulous. We missed a few of our friends this weekend and wished they could have been with us... but next year beckons and plans are being made....

  

dinner begins                                 the beautiful lisa 

I have been very lucky to spend many wonderful weekends away with these wonderful women... creating, laughing and sharing many meals... unfortunately it is our last one in this house by the beach where I have made many beautiful memories ...

The best kind of friendships are fierce lady friendships where you aggressively believe in each other, 
defend each other and think the other deserves the world. 
c/o pinterest

ciao
tracey

love pink!

Last weekend was a busy one for creating, everything was coming up pink ... PINK announced her Australian concert dates for 2018.... it was time to CHECK YOUR BOOBIES for breast cancer & Scrap the Girls' October Challenge was mine to have fun with.

Scrap the Girls moodboard was full of lush hot pink, black and white... i had a lot of fun playing with the color and used one of my favourite pics of my girl Em.

it is in her eyes  - live

Also over the weekend I had a play with the A2Z Scraplets October Challenge. The color palette was divine and I used Doodlet 12 and some offcuts from another to complete the flourish on the page. When coloring the Scraplet I used gesso and then stamped the blue to tie in with the tones of the challenge. I find stamping on the Scraplet gives it a nice soft tone and helps it blend with the feel of the layout. 

love 

thought for the day ...

Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to choose how we will live our lives, hold ourselves to high

standards, and continually evaluate what’s inside the image we see in the mirror.

– Eric Harvey –

have a fabulous friday

tracey

Two more challenges complete

I entered two of my layouts from last weekend over on The Scrap Suite. They had some amazing challenges set for the month of September and I wish I had more time to do the other ones set by the team. I entered Challenge 3 created & inspired by Jasmine & Challenge 4 created and inspired by Anthea. Today I was lucky enough to find out I won challenge 3 .... so excited.... i loved the challenges & i kinda loved creating with pics of some of my birds 😍

Challenge 2 -- This was a great challenge - create a layout using birds or butterflies or bows or use any combo of the three. This was my take on the challenge... I was so lucky to find an A2ZScraplet bird on a wire in my stash and a cute little bow hiding on my scrap desk... it hit the brief perfectly as well as the pic of sunbeam and moonshine... 

This was Challenge 4 - I loved creating with green. I don't think I have used green in such a long time and i love how this pic tells the story of my life ... we had to create a layout using green as the main colour and use a list or lots of journalling.  I loved pulling out the old typewriter for this layout ... my fingers are a tad sore from hitting the keys so hard... but i loved that i had this awesome shade of green hidden away in the copious amounts of paper i have stored ... BTW the pic is of my baby sister trish & I watching tv and chilling in the mismatched lounge room that we called home... 

I am feeling uber inspired for a big weekend of creating ... lots to do ... and lots of great inspirational challenges to open up my creative self to. I hope you find your little bit of creative time this weekend too. 

thought for today...

It's not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters most.

enjoy the weekend 

tracey xx

a creative but messy weekend...

Over the past few weeks I have been getting my groove on and making a heap of mess in my creative space which spans across the whole house.... obviously this is not a plan of mine to spread out but I just can't help it. 

I plan on trying to get my art 'spaces' organised by Christmas. As my ever patient husband tells me that i have been doing this for the past 10 years and then kisses me and says goodnight.... I truly need to accomplish this... and the I CAN DO IT girl in me has been slowly whittling away at it over the past week. .. this will take up to Christmas and maybe even longer -- after all I have to stop and create along the way.😉

yes it really is this bad... and that is only one of the spaces... 

The past two weeks I have created a whopping 9 layouts and one lonely card... two layouts were entered into challenges over at Scrap the Girls and Scrap the Boys. I'm very thankful that I won a challenge over at Scrap the Boys with the layout i posted in my previous post... If you get a chance and you love to create there are new challenges up for the month of October now on both sites.

Unfortunately I have not been able to go to one of my favourite retreats in NSW run by Sandra from Scrapbooking Delights for the past couple of years but she was kind enough to let me have a little banter and play along with a couple of the challenges that she had in store for her retreat guests... it helped me get back into it all and find a little creative flow ... these were the two layouts I had a play with a couple of weeks ago and the card.

Challenge 2 - this was a sketch challenge - it was my warm up 

Challenge 20 - this was a color challenge 

 Challenge 1 - Card challenge -- using foam dots- i think? 

I had a play with my gelli plate and a new Fiskars Teresa Collins Stamp. 

This weekend just gone I was working on trying to complete some of the Dlish Scraps Challenges set over on The Scrap Suite facebook page - so far i only have this picture and will be taking more to try and get them uploaded by this Friday... 

This is Challenge #4 set by Anthea - project using green and lots of journalling

thought for the day...

to be part of the 1% you must be prepared to do what the other 99% do not 

- business mindset 101